Tennis / Miaka Chen / 07 September 2010 / Leave a comment Bet Now

Women's Tournament

The action at Flushing Meadow moves into week two with just the one Australian hope, women's no.5 Samantha Stosur (19*). To match her breakthrough final appearance at the French Open, she will have to do it the hard way with tournament favourite Kim Clijsters (2.92) next in her path, followed by the winner of Venus Williams (9) or her Roland Garros conqueror, Francesca Schiavone (25) before the small matter of the final.

The market heavily favours Clijsters (2.92), based on her bulletproof form at Flushing Meadows and a 3-0 h2h record. The Belgian has won 18 matches in a row at the US Open, stretching back to 2006, and has dropped only 14 games in four rounds so far. She has stayed fresh and destroyed all her opposition so far.

On the other hand, Stosur saved four match points before defeating Elena Dementieva in a match which finished at 1.30am local time. After coming into the fortnight lacking match practice after a recent bicep injury, the Queenslander is now approaching her best tennis, but whether that is good enough to match a rampaging defending champion is another matter. I'd love to be proved wrong, but with Stosur (19) yet to take a set from Clijsters (2.92), I can't see anything but a 2-0 victory for the favourite. 1.65 sounds right to me.

If the Aussie's task seems a tough one, take a look at the battle ahead for Schiavone (25). She is on the wrong side of a 7-0 h2h record against the elder Williams sister, with only three sets claimed - notably, it has always been the first set claimed by the Italian, and apart from one 7-5 set, every other set won by Williams has been 6-1, 6-2 or 6-3.

They say records are made to be broken though and the Italian has taken the first set off Venus (9) in both encounters this year. She's a far better player after her Paris breakthrough and hasn't dropped a set yet this week. Venus has been stretched to a couple of tiebreakers, but has yet to drop a set. In recent years, this is about as far as she has gone, and with the knee injury that hampered her hardcourt season still in the back of her mind, this one looks to be rather tight. I'm not convinced about Schiavone (25) getting over the line though, Williams' will-to-win can be incredible, so I'd rather lay Venus 2-0 at around 2.14.

For the ladies' title, it appears to be Clijsters' trophy to lose. Wozniacki (2.62) does look a more complete player this year and will be keen to reverse last year's final result.

Men's Tournament

After the fall of Andy Murray, it really does look to be set up for a Nadal-Federer final on the men's side. If both stay fit, it's hard to see past that pairing on Sunday.

David Ferrer (2.6) will face Fernando Verdasco (65) for the 12th time tonight, with the left-handed Verdasco holding a 7-4 lead. His form has appeared a little patchy at times but my spies tell me his racquets have mysteriously been painted black - usually a sign that the player has lost confidence in the brand he is sponsored to use, so it appears he has returned to his old favourites, and the results are getting better. Ferrer's form has been solid too, but the lack of a true test so far might work against him.

Verdasco is the favourite for this one at around 1.75 and rightly so. I can see this one going 3-1 Verdasco.

Tommy Robredo (450) has snuck quietly through the draw so far, to be one of six Spaniards in the final 16. His last two matches have been cut short by his opponents retiring so he hasn't needed to pull out all stops. He faces a red-hot Mikhail Youzhny (70) who is trying to match or better his semi-final effort here in 2006. The Russian is seeing the ball very well, as witnessed by being able to break John Isner four times in their R3 encounter. And the ominous result in their history is the 6-2 6-0 6-1 result here back in 2006 when Youzhny was at his best. Robredo leads the h2h 2-1, but his wins were on other surfaces.

I really was impressed with the Russian's form against Isner, despite the American giant being restricted by an ankle injury. In that form, and with previous history here, this could turn out to be quite one-sided. Youzhny -4.5 games looks tempting here, if he drops a set it is likely to be tight, but he could win his sets cheaply.

Nadal (2.76) should pack too many guns for Lopez (560), although if it turns into a serving battle, Lopez will stay with Nadal for longer. Wawrinka (70) v Querrey (46) could turn out to be a great match, however the Swiss player's niggling injuries against Murray could turn into something bigger or they just fade away - it's a match to sit back and watch.

I'll be back on Friday with a final look at those in line for the silverware.

Scott Ferguson

*Odds taken at 9am 07/09/2010